Rubidium

Rubidium is a chemical element with the symbol Rb and atomic number 37. Rubidium is a very soft, silvery-white metal in the alkali metal group. Rubidium metal shares similarities to potassium metal and caesium metal in physical appearance, softness and conductivity. Rubidium cannot be stored under atmospheric oxygen, as a highly exothermic reaction will ensue, sometimes even resulting in the metal catching fire. Rubidium is the first alkali metal in the group to have a density higher than water, so it sinks, unlike the metals above it in the group. Rubidium has a standard atomic weight of 85.4678. On Earth, natural rubidium comprises two isotopes: 72% is a stable isotope 85Rb, and 28% is slightly radioactive 87Rb, with a half-life of 49 billion years—more than three times longer than the estimated age of the universe. German chemists Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff discovered rubidium in 1861 by the newly developed technique, flame spectroscopy. The name comes from the Latin word rubidus, meaning deep red, the color of its emission spectrum. Rubidium's compounds have various chemical and electronic applications. Rubidium metal is easily vaporized and has a convenient spectral absorption range, making it a frequent target for laser manipulation of atoms. Rubidium is not a known nutrient for any living organisms. However, rubidium ions have the same charge as potassium ions and are actively taken up and treated by animal cells in similar ways. Rubidium is a very soft, ductile, silvery-white metal. It is the second most electropositive of the stable alkali metals and melts at a temperature of 39.3 °C (102.7 °F). Like other alkali metals, rubidium metal reacts violently with water. As with potassium (which is slightly less reactive) and caesium (which is slightly more reactive), this reaction is usually vigorous enough to ignite the hydrogen gas it produces. Rubidium has also been reported to ignite spontaneously in air. It forms amalgams with mercury and alloys with gold, iron, caesium, sodium, and potassium, but not lithium (even though rubidium and lithium are in the same group). Rubidium has a very low ionization energy of only 406 kJ/mol. Rubidium and potassium show a very similar purple color in the flame test, and distinguishing the two elements requires more sophisticated analysis, such as spectroscopy. Rubidium chloride (RbCl) is probably the most used rubidium compound: among several other chlorides, it is used to induce living cells to take up DNA; it is also used as a biomarker, because in nature, it is found only in small quantities in living organisms and when present, replaces potassium. Other common rubidium compounds are the corrosive rubidium hydroxide (RbOH), the starting material for most rubidium-based chemical processes; rubidium carbonate (Rb2CO3), used in some optical glasses, and rubidium copper sulfate, Rb2SO4·CuSO4·6H2O. Rubidium silver iodide (RbAg4I5) has the highest room temperature conductivity of any known ionic crystal, a property exploited in thin film batteries and other applications. Rubidium forms a number of oxides when exposed to air, including rubidium monoxide (Rb2O), Rb6O, and Rb9O2; rubidium in excess oxygen gives the superoxide RbO2. Rubidium forms salts with halides, producing rubidium fluoride, rubidium chloride, rubidium bromide, and rubidium iodide. Although rubidium is monoisotopic, rubidium in the Earth's crust is composed of two isotopes: the stable 85Rb (72.2%) and the radioactive 87Rb (27.8%). Natural rubidium is radioactive, with specific activity of about 670 Bq/g, enough to significantly expose a photographic film in 110 days.